#Orediggers EverywhereWe are excited to see where your studies and travels take you. A monthly prize will be awarded to one alumnus/alumna, student, faculty, or staff who submits an “Orediggers Everywhere” photo. For details or to see examples, check out our “Orediggers Everywhere” photo album at facebook.com/minesalumni.

Everyone talks about landing the dream job after graduation—Mines alumni Brandon Turman ’08 and Courtney Steen ’10, pictured above, actually made it happen. How do they spend their days now? Riding and testing the latest mountain bikes and components and relaying their on-trail experiences to the public.

“I have always had a passion for mountain biking, and when I came to Mines in 2004 it was a personal goal to share that passion with others by introducing them to the sport,” said Turman. When the opportunity came up to manage the CSM Cycling Team, Turman says he jumped on it. In 2007, the CSM mountain bike team won the Collegiate National Championship. “Being a part of that success is still one of the biggest competitive highlights of my time as a cyclist,” he said.

Turman met Courtney Steen through the CSM team, and the two have been a couple ever since. In 2009, Courtney’s skills landed her on the individual Collegiate National Championship Omnium podium.

Today, they live the mobile lifestyle while traveling to various mountain bike destinations around North America in search of the best trails.

“Our time at Mines and our engineering experience allow us to really dig into why bikes perform how they do,” said Turman. “It’s a fun job, and we love applying our technical backgrounds outdoors.”

]]>http://minesmagazine.com/9786/feed/0http://minesmagazine.com/9786/Gregg Brandon Named New Football Coachhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MinesMagazine/~3/k98fU2YQOw4/
http://minesmagazine.com/9772/#commentsMon, 23 Mar 2015 22:22:33 +0000http://minesmagazine.com/?p=9772[continue reading...]]]>Former New Mexico State University (NMSU) offensive coordinator/quarterback coach Gregg Brandon has been named new head coach of Mines’ 126-year old football program, the university’s athletic director David Hansburg announced in late December. Brandon is only the sixth head coach to walk the sidelines since 1937.

“Gregg Brandon brings an unbelievable amount of experience to Colorado School of Mines. His energy and enthusiasm will be a great asset to our football program as we move into a new era for the Orediggers,” said Hansburg.

Brandon, who recently completed his second season coaching the Aggies at NMSU, brings more than 30 years of experience to Mines, including stints at seven NCAA Division I institutions. In his first season with the Aggies, he helped NMSU to the No. 55 national ranking in passing yards. Quarterback Andrew McDonald led the Aggies with 2,497 yards and 15 touchdowns. Brandon also guided wide receiver Austin Franklin and offensive tackles Andy Cunningham and Davonte Wallace to All-Independent Football Team honors.

From 2003-08, Brandon served as head coach at Bowling Green State University (BGSU), compiling a record of 44-30 and guiding the Falcons to three bowl appearances and four winning seasons. Originally hired as the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator in 2001, Brandon led BGSU teams to a bevy of notable non-conference wins: at Purdue (27-26 in 2003), at Minnesota (32-31 in 2007), and at Pittsburgh (27-17 in 2008). He coached 33 All-MAC selections and 2004 MAC Player of the Year, Omar Jacobs.

From 1987-90, Brandon was the wide receivers coach at University of Wyoming (UW) under head coach, Paul Roach. During his four-year tenure, the Pokes went 35-15 and won back-to-back Western Athletic Conference championships in 1987 and 1988, twice finishing conference play undefeated. Wyoming appeared in the 1987 and 1988 Holiday Bowls, as well as in the Copper Bowl in 1990.

Following his time at UW, Brandon held assistant positions at Utah State University (1991), Northwestern University (1992-98), University of Colorado (1999-2000), and BGSU (2001-02). In 2009, he served as offensive coordinator at Virginia State University, and in 2010 he was on the coaching staff of the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League. He has helped lead nine teams to bowl appearances during his collegiate coaching career, including an appearance in the Rose Bowl with Northwestern at the conclusion of the 1995 season.

A native of Colorado Springs, Brandon played football at Mesa State in 1974 before transferring to University of Northern Colorado (UNC), where he played his final three seasons as a defensive back and wide receiver. He graduated from UNC in 1978 with a bachelor’s degree in education.

“I am excited to become the head football coach at Colorado School of Mines,” said Brandon. “It is a great opportunity to work with outstanding young men who excel in the classroom and win on the field. The opening of the Korell Athletics Center and Marv Kay Stadium for the 2015 season also make this a uniquely attractive place to coach, and it shows how committed the school is to athletics and student life in general.”

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation has made a $1.25 million commitment to Colorado School of Mines to support the departments of petroleum engineering, geology and geological engineering, and geophysics. A reception to formally announce this gift took place on the Mines campus on Nov. 11, 2014.

“We recognize the importance of investing in high-quality education for our youth, which is essential for our industry and foundational for a sustainable future,” said Brad Holly, senior vice president of Anadarko’s Rockies Operations. “Anadarko and our Colorado employees, including more than 90 Mines graduates, are honored to be recognized for the ongoing commitment to Colorado School of Mines.”

Anadarko’s investment will fund undergraduate scholarships, graduate fellowships, student travel and fieldwork, faculty development and teaching support, as well as departmental needs and initiatives. With this commitment, the company is also supporting two lecture series at Mines.

“Mines is proud of our relationships with the petroleum industry, and we are especially grateful for our ongoing partnership with Anadarko,” said Mines President Bill Scoggins. “This new commitment will further the university’s capabilities in areas that are critical to the energy industry, and we couldn’t be more grateful for the company’s continued support.”

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation is among the world’s largest independent oil and natural gas exploration and production companies, with 2.79 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BBOE) of proved reserves at year-end 2013.

]]>http://minesmagazine.com/9702/feed/0http://minesmagazine.com/9702/Orediggers Make Impressive Showing in Fall 2014http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MinesMagazine/~3/MFMpjtujt3I/
http://minesmagazine.com/9769/#commentsMon, 23 Mar 2015 21:16:04 +0000http://minesmagazine.com/?p=9769[continue reading...]]]>During a two-week span last November, the Colorado School of Mines athletics program rode a wave of euphoria that helped define an entire season. The Orediggers came away with either outright claims to or shares of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) regular-season and/or tournament championships in four sports. Mines participated in the NCAA Division II postseason in five out of six sports, including the first-ever D-II Final Four appearance, and is currently ranked third in the D-II Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings. Here is a glance back at a fall season that ranked near the top of the best ever for the Orediggers:

Photo by Bryan Desch.

WOMEN’S SOCCER
After progressing to the D-II quarterfinals in three of the previous four seasons, the Orediggers cleared another hurdle by advancing to the national semifinals for the first time. Mines fell to Rollins College 1-0 in December, but not before securing the RMAC regular-season and conference tournament titles, followed by three victories in the D-II tournament. Senior Nicho Cusack and juniors Jayln Yates and Rachael Turner were honored as All-Americans. Yates was chosen the 2014 Daktronics South Central Region Player of the Year after leading the nation in goals against average and save percentage.

MEN’S SOCCER
In a year that was supposed to be about rebuilding—11 true freshmen were on the roster— the Mines men won the conference tournament title for the third time in five seasons. The team earned the No. 2 seed in the RMAC Tournament, and a victory over Regis in the semifinals was followed by a shootout triumph over University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. The program received another nod when former All-American Tesho Akindele was selected the Major League Soccer (MLS) 2014 AT&T Rookie of the Year in late November. Akindele, the Orediggers’ all-time leading scorer, finished his first season in MLS with seven goals and three assists.

FOOTBALL
For only the third time in the program’s long history, the Mines football squad earned a D-II playoff berth after sharing the RMAC title with CSU-Pueblo. The Orediggers finished 10-1 in the regular season, with the only loss coming by eight points to eventual national champion CSU-Pueblo. Kole Kadavy and Cole Spurgeon were All-Americans, with Kadavy setting single-season records for total tackles (132) and solo tackles (79). Longtime coach Bob Stitt, the program’s all-time leader in victories, resigned at the end of the season to accept the head coach position at the University of Montana. Former New Mexico State offensive coordinator/quarterback coach Gregg Brandon was named the new coach in late December, becoming only the sixth coach to lead the program since 1937 (see page 12 in this issue).

CROSS COUNTRY
Despite battling a course that was besieged by rain and mud, Mines came away with a fourth-place finish and two All- Americans in men’s cross country on December 6. Senior Chloe Gustafson led the women to 10th place overall and captured the second All-American honor since 2009 with a 13th-place finish. The men’s team finished second in the conference and regional meets, while the women took third at regionals. Both the men and women qualified for nationals for the second time in three years. Chris Siemers was named the RMAC Coach of the Year, the first Oredigger to earn that honor since 1991.

VOLLEYBALL
The 2014 season included a sixth consecutive appearance in the D-II national championships. The Orediggers earned a share of the RMAC title, along with Colorado Mesa University, the third regular-season crown in a row for the program. Mines was ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation, won 25 games, and had three All-Americans: Danielle Johnson-Hazlewood, Alanna Winfield, and Megan Peterson.

]]>http://minesmagazine.com/9769/feed/0http://minesmagazine.com/9769/Going Deep for Far-Out Lifehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MinesMagazine/~3/QchmwkN_Uco/
http://minesmagazine.com/9724/#commentsMon, 23 Mar 2015 20:31:29 +0000http://minesmagazine.com/?p=9724[continue reading...]]]> Subsurface life forms that don’t need the Sun may hold the key to understanding the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe.

John Spear nosing around for the smell of sulfide, which can be detected by humans in amounts as small as two parts per billion. (Courtesy of John Spear).

In February 2005, a research team led by microbiologist John Spear set out to study geothermal ecosystems in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park. What they found astonished them: microbial communities in the boiling waters were thriving not on sulfur, as was previously believed, but on hydrogen. The findings, which were published in a cover story of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2005), provided evidence of the first hydrogen-eating microbes ever identified in an Earthly ecosystem. It may seem a minuscule advance, but it was as if an alien visitor had confirmed the existence of giraffes and could now muse about the prevalence of other possible “herbivores.”

The hydrogen-eaters Spear found ten years ago have since helped fuel a search for microbes capable of surviving in pitchblack depths, subsisting on crumbs of energy that flows from rocks exposed to water. Now, the Mines professor of civil and environmental engineering is co-leading a new five-year, $7 million NASA effort to spot evidence of such life on Mars and beyond.

Spear, who studies the habits and habitats of microbes using genetic sequencing techniques, is a co-investigator and education/public outreach lead for the new NASA Astrobiology Institute team known as “Rock-Powered Life.” Led by University of Colorado Boulder geochemist Alexis Templeton, the project brings together investigators from nine institutions1 and collaborators from several others. Its aim is to narrow and refine our search for buried life elsewhere in the galaxy through a better understanding of biology here on the home planet.

John Spear and Alexis Templeton hold samples of gypsum rock while standing on the gypsum diaper at Hare Fiord, Ellesmere Island, Canada. (Courtesy of John Spear).

“As an institution, Mines has been thinking about rocks, minerals, and mining for its entire history,” said Spear. “Now, people like me come along and think about how minerals drive life not only on Earth, but on Mars and other places.”

For those of us who associate life with the Sun, the idea of life below the surface may take some conceptual rejiggering. As surfacedwellers, the only life we see is photosynthetic life. The autotrophs, such as plants, derive solar energy from photosynthesis; then we heterotrophs eat the plants and/or the creatures that eat the plants. But as Spear will tell you, there are vast kingdoms of microscopic life—many of them recently discovered—that don’t need the Sun at all. And that’s precisely what the NASA Astrobiology Institute and Spear’s team are looking for.

The Rock-Powered Life investigation involves a combination of field work and theory to understand the conditions in which chemolithoautotrophs (organisms that sustain themselves on energy derived from chemical changes in rock) can exist, and to identify how the very presence of these microbes alters the rocks they host. By examining the temperatures, pH levels, trace element concentrations, and energy gradients needed to support metabolism, the team hopes to identify the types of microbes and microbial communities that are undergoing the chemical processes necessary for life.

The term astrobiology may sound “far-out,” but Spear’s quest will focus on deep, damp, and dark places. The team’s work will hinge on the microbes they find in serpentine rocks below sites in California, Oman, and the Atlantis Massif in the North Atlantic. Common among these three sites is a mineral called peridotite—an ultramafic rock (meaning rich in magnesium and iron) that is a mainstay on Earth, as well as in the rocky bodies of our solar system and beyond.

NASA’s interest in spending millions to shed light on buried, hydrogen- eating microbes is driven by the laws of physics and chemistry, which scientists suspect may drive universal biological forces. In particular, iron and magnesium commonly blast forth from exploding stars and unite in ultramafic rock. Where there’s enough rock and liquid water to form a habitable planet (scientists estimate there are 8.8 billon habitable planets in the Milky Way galaxy alone), all that ultramafic rock may well be providing fuel for life.

When exposed to water, ultramafic rock undergoes a process called serpentinization, which then yields other kinds of rocks such as magnetite and brucite. But along the way, a significant reaction occurs: the interaction of water and rock releases hydrogen. In the years since Spear first identified these microbes in the boiling waters of Obsidian Pool and Washburn Spring in Yellowstone, scientists have found their hydrogen-eating ilk in much cooler and more geologically pedestrian places—sites that host active serpentinization.

David Des Marais, a senior scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center and longtime Astrobiology program leader, wonders if the kinds of microbes Spear’s team seeks might be among the metabolic pioneers of life on Earth. That is, maybe the photosynthetic kingdoms we’re all so familiar with were relative latecomers and our photosynthetic bias has blinded us to our own origins. These hydrogen eaters, Des Marais said, “could be indicative of our early history.”

“Maybe they’re our ancestors,” Spear adds.

For Des Marais and NASA, the Rock-Powered Life team’s insights will be most valuable in studying our russet neighbor planet, Mars. “Earth is the only place in the solar system whose surface environment can support life as we know it,” said Des Marais. “But Mars’ early history indicates a wetter, warmer world, so perhaps life evolved at or near the surface but then persisted only in the subsurface. Everything points to the areas of investigation the Colorado team is pursuing.”

If life had indeed established a foothold on Mars, then perhaps it’s still there. In 2014, the Mars Curiosity team announced the rover had detected methane whose origins, whether microbial or chemical, came from the subsurface. “This is a significant finding, one that opens the door a bit wider for the possibility of life elsewhere,” said Spear.

John Grotzinger, former chief scientist for NASA’s Mars Curiosity mission and now chair of the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences at the California Institute of Technology, described the team’s goal as more sharply defining the “environmental envelope” of subsurface life. “The kinds of field studies and experiments the team is doing will help us fine-tune and develop a better exploration model,” he says.

The studies are particularly relevant to Mars, Des Marais added. “I expect a successful Rock-Powered Life team will help us develop a more sophisticated approach to how we would run rovers in the future, what instruments we would send, and the way we would execute the mission,” he said.

In Oman, below the Atlantic, and at the California Coast Range Ophiolite Microbial Observatory (CROMO), Spear’s team will fill mesh cylinders about the size of a cigar with crushed peridotite, obsidian, glass beads, and other rocks, and then lower the cylinders into the depths for up to a year. The depths will vary from 20 meters in California to 300 meters in Oman, with temperatures ranging from a chilly 13-18 degrees Celsius at CROMO to a near-boiling 90 degrees at the Atlantis Massif. The idea, Spear says, is to see what grows where in different environments.

Back in the lab, the painstaking work will commence, as the team inspects the rocks under scanning-electron and epifluorescent microscopes to look for cells and signs of metabolism. Next, they’ll extract DNA and use genetic sequencing techniques to assign creatures to the proper twig on the tree of life. Then it’s off to the newer techniques of modern biology—including metagenomics, etatranscriptomics, and single-cell genomics—the aim being to understand what combinations of microbes are present and how they subsist.

The metagenomics work will involve sequencing most of the DNA from the many microbes in a sample. With that, Spear says, you can infer some community traits. “Do I see hydrogenase genes, and can I infer from their presence that the community is metabolizing hydrogen? Metagenomics gives you the background in terms of what’s possible in a community,” he said.

Metatranscriptomics will look at messenger RNA to see what genes are being expressed. “It tells you not only who’s there, but who’s metabolizing and how,” Spear says.

The Borup Fiord Pass Glacier Astrobiology research team (L to R): Christopher Trivedi, Steve Grasby, Alexis Templeton, Graham Lau, and John Spear. (Courtesy of John Spear).

Single-cell genomics involves isolating the DNA of an individual microbe from a community and sequencing its entire genome to provide a more thorough understanding of the microbial mass. For this step, Spear’s team will work with the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and the Joint Genome Institute. Spear says he wouldn’t be surprised to come across entirely new kingdoms of the tree of life.

“It’s like walking out the door and finding animals and trees for the first time,” he said.

In addition to his work in the laboratory, Spear is involved in education and public outreach efforts, such as bringing astrobiology to Native American tribal colleges and developing a “virtual minor” online astrobiology course for undergraduates. The key message, he says, is that astrobiology is both far-out and not so much.

1University of Colorado, Colorado School of Mines, Montana State University, Arizona State University NASA Ames Research Center, Michigan State University, the University of Rhode Island, the University of Utah, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

]]>http://minesmagazine.com/9724/feed/0http://minesmagazine.com/9724/Eye Tracking System May Aid Robotic Surgerieshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MinesMagazine/~3/sVtdAzpNVMc/
http://minesmagazine.com/9699/#commentsMon, 23 Mar 2015 20:15:41 +0000http://minesmagazine.com/?p=9699[continue reading...]]]>Colorado School of Mines Mechanical Engineering assistant professor Xiaoli Zhang and graduate student Songpo Li have developed a robotic laparoscope system that can help surgeons better perform laparoscopic surgery. Laparoscopy is an operation performed in the abdomen or pelvis through small incisions with a camera. Laparoscopic instruments (typically 0.5-1 centimeters in diameter) are inserted through small incisions and then operated inside a patient’s body with a laparoscope that allows the surgeon to see the surgical field on a monitor.

Courtesy of Xiaoli Zhang

Unlike open surgery, laparoscopic procedures have been known to reduce scarring, lessen blood loss, shorten recovery times, and decrease post-operative pain. However, due to limitations related to holding and positioning the laparoscope, surgeons struggle with physiologic tremors, fatigue, and the fulcrum effect. Zhang and Li’s attention-aware robotic laparoscope aims to eliminate some of these physical and mental burdens. “The robot arm holds the camera so the surgeon doesn’t have to,” said Zhang. “Wherever you look, the camera will autonomously follow your viewing attention. It frees the surgeon from laparoscope intervention so the surgeon can focus on instrument manipulation only.”

The system tracks the surgeon’s viewing attention by analyzing gaze data. When the surgeon’s eyes stop on a new fixation area, the robot adjusts the laparoscope to show a different field of view that focuses on the new area of interest. To validate the effectiveness of the procedure, the team tested six participants on visualization tasks. Participants reported “they could naturally interact with the field of view without feeling the existence of the robotic laparoscope.”

In addition to healthcare applications, the technology could be used for the disabled and the elderly, who may have difficulty with upper-limb movements, according to Zhang and Li. “Using this system, the surgeon can perform the operation solo, which has great practicability in situations like the battlefield and others with limited human resources,” said Li.

In September 2014, Li received the Colorado Innovation S.T.A.R.S. challenge award for “Best Technical Achievement” at the college level during the JeffCo Innovation Faire. Zhang and Li are now working with clinical researchers and industry partners to commercialize their attention-aware robotic laparoscope.

]]>http://minesmagazine.com/9699/feed/0http://minesmagazine.com/9699/New Beginnings in Fall 2015http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MinesMagazine/~3/xaJMub2O5CA/
http://minesmagazine.com/9705/#commentsMon, 23 Mar 2015 20:09:23 +0000http://minesmagazine.com/?p=9705[continue reading...]]]>You may notice that something’s missing. Usually at this time of year, we’re encouraging you to register for Alumni Weekend, which has been held in the spring for the last several years. Instead, we’re asking you to save the date: Sept. 30–Oct. 3, 2015.

(Photo Credit: Thomas Cooper)

Beginning this year, Alumni Weekend will be held in early fall and will become Homecoming Weekend. This move to gather each fall allows us to enjoy the beautiful (and fairly predictable!) Colorado weather, spend time with current Mines students at a time when they’re not prepping for finals, and root for Mines varsity sports in the new Clear Creek Athletics Complex (CCAC). It also allows legacy families a chance to visit earlier in the school year.

We have some exciting new events planned this year, including a campus lecture with astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, a Welcome Back pep rally on Maple Plaza, and a special half-time event during the Homecoming football game at the new Marv Kay Stadium at CCAC. And, of course, there will be plenty of opportunity for you to reconnect with classmates at reunion dinners and campus events.

There’s also another reason to come back to campus this fall—to meet the 17th Mines president. Last fall I announced my intention to retire in 2015, and the Mines Board of Trustees appointed a search committee representing alumni, faculty, staff, and students to work with a national consultant to recruit my successor. Efforts are well underway, and you can follow the search progress at mines.edu/PresidentSearch.

So, come back to Golden this fall to honor the unique Mines experience, talk with our outstanding faculty, connect across generations of Orediggers, and most importantly, to celebrate our shared history and the exciting future that we can create together.

]]>http://minesmagazine.com/9705/feed/0http://minesmagazine.com/9705/A Note from the New CSMAA Presidenthttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MinesMagazine/~3/nUebSFDM-eo/
http://minesmagazine.com/9709/#commentsMon, 23 Mar 2015 19:57:41 +0000http://minesmagazine.com/?p=9709[continue reading...]]]>It’s been three and a half decades since, as we all say, “I got out.” With the passage of time, I have learned to appreciate numerous things about the Colorado School of Mines. First, as my son James (MS Hydro ’13) told me about three weeks after starting graduate school at Mines: “Dad, you were right, this school is different.” He told me this shortly after a less-than-stellar performance on his first set of exams.

Ray Priestley ’79

Even John Coors, when he recently announced CoorsTek’s gift of $26.9 million to Mines, began his speech by proudly sharing that he received a zero on his first chemistry quiz. These experiences—and there were a lot of them—are part of the filaments that join us together. It is something we are all proud of, even if it may have caused us to seek therapy at some point.

Our school has changed in many ways, as have the demographics of our alumni. Still, as a whole, Mines students have continued to stand out year after year. I know this to be true, for I have recruited throughout my career at Mines and many of the other top tier engineering schools, mentored interns, and trained new graduates. I encourage all of you to see this firsthand by coming back to campus and being part of your local alumni sections.

Students all seem to have a certain mentor that makes a difference to them at Mines. For my son, it was Professor Paul Santi (Department of Geology and Geologic Engineering). For me, years ago, it was Marv Kay—yes, the football coach and former mayor of Golden who is still around campus.

Overall, the involvement of our students in non-academic activities is also unique; they participate in more than 180 different activities and organizations. Mines students also want to make a difference in the world, evidenced by the fact that humanitarian engineering is one of the most popular minors on campus. The music department is also a well-kept secret. Did you know they have performed at the Vatican?

Still, sometimes I forget about all the good memories from the five years I spent on campus. But last weekend, fate stepped in to correct that when I was in Houston for a Discover Mines event. Louisa Duley, assistant director of admissions at Mines, asked me to meet with her and a prospective student named Grace. Grace’s mother, Jennifer Merkel, instantly recognized me as one of her husband’s (Ernie Merkel ’81) fraternity brothers. For the next two hours, Grace told me many stories about Ernie and other Mines families they had stayed in contact with over the years. We laughed remembering the good times. Then as Grace explained her passion, to follow her father’s path to Mines, we talked about the hard work and how it changes and defines who you are, and tears came to our eyes. Ernie died 14 years ago of cancer, but the difference that Mines made in him lives on in his daughter.

John F. Kennedy said, “God’s work must be our own.” Likewise, the work of our school must belong to all of us. I look forward to the honor of serving you as president of the Alumni Association, because Mines and each of you are part of who I am.

“I probably ended up at Mines because I wanted to play football,” said Bill Zisch ’79. “I already had the idea that I wanted to go into engineering, so when Mines said, ‘We’d like to have you play football for us,’ that really caught my attention.” The offer also reinforced a strong family connection: Zisch’s grandfather, John Zisch, played varsity football for Mines in the 1910s. “Back then, we used to beat CU in football,” Zisch laughs.

The elder Zisch later became a pioneering chemist at the Climax Molybdenum Mine, and though he ended up in the sugar refining industry, “he always considered himself a Mines man.”

So, too, does Bill Zisch, who recently rejoined the CSM Alumni Association’s Board of Directors after a hiatus of more than a decade. A dedicated Mines supporter and donor for more than 30 years, Zisch served on the alumni board in the late 1990s but stepped down when his career took him overseas. Now he’s back in Colorado to stay, and he has a new job as president and CEO of Midway Gold and a fresh start on his service to the alumni board.

“The primary role of the Alumni Association is to create opportunities and relationships that support the school,” said Zisch. “There are so many Mines alumni out there in industry that this role is magnified. We can help the school understand the world that its students are going to live in, and help prepare those students to become leaders after they graduate.”

Zisch’s own path to industry leadership has taken him all over the world. After graduating from Mines with a degree in mining engineering, he spent 16 years in gold and coal operations with FMC Company, then became Newmont’s globe-trotting chief mining engineer for international operations. He eventually settled in Peru as the operations manager at Yanacocha, one of the world’s largest gold mines. He also spent much of the 2000s in West Africa as a regional vice president.

Zisch’s current job takes him to some of the most remote locations in North America. Midway Gold’s primary assets lie in the central Nevada desert on either side of U.S. 50, which is famously known as “the loneliest road in America.” Thankfully, he avoids that “loneliness” by spending most of his time at the company’s Denver headquarters, and he welcomes the stability after so many years of far-flung travel. But, he said, he wouldn’t trade his international experiences for anything, and his global experience reinforces his belief that Mines has a key role to play in shaping the extractive industries of the future. “We’re going to have interactions with societies around the world, and the mining engineers of the future need to understand that role,” he said. “They need to be environmentally sensitive, and they need to be in coordination with local communities.”

Zisch recalls that when he was working in West Africa, he dealt with a very different type of government. “I hadn’t gotten any preparation for that at Mines. I got a very sound technical foundation, and that’s even more extensive for today’s undergraduates. But what’s going to distinguish the leaders of the industry is the ability to work with people around the world and understand the global context,” he said.

Bill Zisch’ 79 gets a dance lesson from local residents during a community celebration in Ghana, West Africa. (Courtesy of Bill Zisch).

Some of those issues, Zisch adds, may not have cut-and-dried solutions. Although higher living standards around the globe translate into demand for raw materials, they also can lead to cultural and environmental friction. Zisch believes Mines is uniquely positioned to prepare students for those challenges. “When I went through school, they had just started to incorporate environmental design into the core curriculum,” Zisch says. “So my generation of graduates and subsequent generations understand the responsibility to be environmentally sound and socially friendly. It has come a long way since then, and it’s continuing to improve.”

In addition to the lessons he has learned in industry, Zisch gained perspective on the challenges facing today’s engineering students from his son, John, who is a recent Mines graduate (’09). While he understands the impact of adding environmental and social layers to an already-demanding scientific curriculum, Zisch has faith that Mines students are up to the task.

“I have a lot of confidence in Mines students,” he says. “Through all the years I’ve been associated with the university, I’ve always found a high quality of people. The industries that Mines serves are important to the nation and to the world. I know our students have the ability and the capacity to lead the extractive industries of the future.”